Orvieto - Peace and Quiet

After the hectic, busy streets of Rome, a visit to Orvieto is just what the doctor ordered. Following a short train ride from Rome (1.25 hours) you are dropped off in the rural Umbrian countryside where you can relax and breathe easy.

Orvieto is a hilltop town, so we took a quick funicular ride from the train station up to the centre of town. A shuttle bus awaits to bring you to the town square five minutes away.

Like many other Italian cities and towns, everything revolves around the church dominating the town square - again called the Duomo (our third Duomo!). It was quite magnificent for a small town - built to honour the miracle of a religious sacred cloth that contained blood from a broken host.

There are numerous shops, restaurants , museums, etc. but the best thing was the slow pace - people meandering along slowly with no purpose but to enjoy the sights.

Our accommodations were in a 14th century monastery - no surprise, about 30 metres from the cathedral where I am standing in the pic above. The rooms were basic with high ceilings but had all the amenities with a nice breakfast.

This was the view out my bedroom window in the AM when I stuck my head out to take a look around. Very nice spot!




The museums featured local art and artifacts but one thing I especially enjoyed was a visit to the Orvieto Underground - caves !!

It turns out that centuries ago, while the Truscans captured or held the Orvietans at bay - they dug downward (remember Orvieto is up on a hilltop) in order to reach water and then to store food and wine. They also housed pigeons to sell in the caves.

We were treated to a great sunset as we went to the supermarket to pick up the usual evening meal: wine, cheese , bread, chocolate, beer, salami, olive oil and whatever else caught our eye.

Well tomorrow it's goodbye to Italy after a fantastic time chasing trains, eating pizza and pasta daily, cheap wine and cheaper beer, gelato, espresso and good times!

Rome

How can do this? Ok. Lets try...

Everything in Rome is larger than life and nothing fits into the viewfinder of the camera. You take a turn and there is Trevi Fountain, St. Peter's Basilica, the Pantheon, piazzas, 2000 year old archways - you get the point. Maybe I'll try some words and post a few pics as well.

We started our visit to Rome with a walking tour that not only included many of the ancient Rome "must-sees" but also a stop at a gelato shop that was pretty kick ass.

The following morning my travel mates booked a tour of the Colosseum but I think I hit the wall for old buildings, churches and gladiators and wanted only to sleep, do laundry and watch mindless Italian TV for just a few hours. We met up at lunchtime before embarking on a tour of the Vatican which was great, but given that they shuffle 30,000 people through those buildings every day - it was something you just had to accept and move along like sheep at the slaughter.

Visiting the Sistine Chapel was amazing and worth the other annoyances. I did learn that Michelangelo was a cranky old fart and not really a "citizen of the year" candidate while alive. I guess if you had paint dripping in in your eyes for four years that made you blind while you strained your neck and back painting that ceiling you would be cantankerous as well.

Here is the dome and altar from St. Peter's Basilica for all the Catholic in the crowd ! It really is quite amazing.

We took another day to sleep late and just wander at a leisurely pace at key sights that needed a second look or explore new neighbourhoods of Rome.

A tour guide can give great tips on where to eat and drink in the city so we booked a spot for dinner at her recommendation and were not disappointed! My Calzoni was delicious! One of our mates heads home tomorrow so now we are three, which means our trip is drawing to a close. We are heading out of Rome to Orvieto in the AM for one final adventure before flying home on Saturday. We'll try to check in from there ..... Blaise

Siena

The expectation was that Siena would a low-key town, a change from the busy fast-paced streets of Florence. As it turns out, Siena (about 60 km south) is quite a large city that takes steps to ensure that it can keep up with it’s rival city, Florence.

Their cathedral (also called Duomo) is beautiful with several other nearby attractions - the museum, the baptismal, the cripte and tower to climb. There are abundant restaurants, cafes and tons of shopping to boot. 







They also have a hugh piazza called Il Campo where all the locals plank themselves down on the ground and have a coffee, read or just hang out. Different from many other towns, the focus of the square is City Hall instead of a religious institution. Ill Campo is also the home of a bi-annual horse race that attracts thousands off locals as two of the the 17 districts of Siena compete for the glory of the win. That would certainly be fun to see.

While eating lunch, we were treated to opera music from a group of men heading up the street to out restaurant.  Their singing got a bit louder the more shots they had :-)

We also booked a wine tasting tour to try the local specialty wine called Brunello. We travelled by minivan about 40 km outside the city towards Montalicino making two stops: one at a wine shop and the other at a winery. The winery was more fun as they sat us down at tables for the tasting, offering bread and salami on the side. 
We chased down all that with shot(s) of grapes - strong booze made from fermented grape skins. Our tour mates were a cute couple from Brazil on their honeymoon. Lots of laughs as we chatted with them, shocked that we commented how well their spoken English was!  They had no formal training and learned English from TV, movies and video games.

 

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We are currently on a bus heading for Rome. We'll talk to ya soon!

Arts, Culture, Shopping and Food - it must be Florence

We arrived in Florence yesterday, checked out our new home for the next two days (which is a snazzy pad with above average amenities) and hit the streets. Armed with the iPhone MAPS app, Lonely Planet and Rick Steves' guide books and comfortable shoes away we go. Initial impression: busy, crazy scooter drivers, a shopper's mecca and an artsy, cultural paradise. It is a place that kind of grows on you after a bit!

Leather is the big seller here. Vendors, whether it be the shady ones in San Lorenzo's Market or the authentic shop merchants will try their best to send you home with new leather shoes, gloves, jacket, purses or any other leather trinket you can imagine. One dude fitted be in a jacket and lit it on fire and jabbed it with a knife to try to get me to buy it. No - I did not buy it !!

The beautiful domed Duomo cathedral (above) is a huge, Gothic structure that defies enginerring as there were no temporary support structures installed during the building of the dome. How did it not collapse???  

Today we toured two of the most famous museums here in Florence - the Ufizzi and the Accademia. We spent about two hours in the Ufizzi in the AM followed by a visit to the Accademia in the afternoon. The big draw for the Accademia is the grand statue of David. The Ufizzi has a beautiful collection of Renaissance art - including Laocoon and His Sons shown here.  

The Ponte Vecchio aka "The Old Bridge" is a famous Florence landmark spanning the Arno River. It has a crazy number of gold and jewellry shops that attract the shoppers. We were fortunate to arrive there as the sun was just going down and the Arno River was as calm as glass. To be truthful, while my travels mates were shopping I was more interested in taking a few pics. 

Visitors are able to climb to the top of the Duomo but unfortunately for us - they are fully booked until Sunday. The other option is to climb the tower adjoining the Duomo called the Campanile Bell Tower which is 400+ steps. It offers pretty awesome views of the city after a little investment in sweat equity. The pic above shows a scenic view of Florence stretching towards the Tuscan hills.

Oh - the food. Tonight we stopped into a spot for dinner and I had the best gnocchi I have ever eaten. Try to imagine a family run business who dish out excellent food and wine and seem to have fun doing it! Our waiter even came around and topped up our wine glasses (no charge!) when our jug had mysteriously appeared to be empty. It was my kind of place!!!

 Tomorrow we take a bus to Siena for a low-key, relaxing few days in the old city. We may even get to sleep in!
                                             (Pictures can be clicked to enlarge to full size)

Hiking Day at Cinque Terre

Hello  - today's post is from Cinque Terra National Park. Cinque Terre is comprised of five small villages from north to south: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia (sounds dirty doesn't it :-), Manarola and Riomaggiore. Our flat is in the village of Riomaggiore over looking the marina. The shot above is from our patio. We can sit and watch the boats coming in and out of the marina, people swimming and listening to the waves as we drift off to sleep.

Now, in one way it is similar to Venice that there are very few cars here but that is because they could never manoeuvre the crowded geography of this area. There are hiking trails that link the five villages, so we checked at the info bureau in the AM and apparently, due to landslides, certain areas of the coastal trail (aka Trail #2 - the Blue Trail) were closed. So we travelled from Riomaggiore to Corniglia by train and started out trek there. We had the option to start in our village but that would have meant a different set of inland trails. This is the hilltop village of Corniglia.

This pic was taken as we were approaching the village of Vernassa. The hike is challenging, reaching an altitude of 250 meters several times over the coarse of the day. Each village means a sharp climb up and a more enjoyable trek down! The trails ranged from flat, dirt trails to spots with barely enough room for more than one person to get by. Lets just say it was challenging when the temperature was in the mid-seventies and we were sweating like monkeys.

But all in all it was a great day, stopping in Vernassa for lunch and continuing on to Monteosso by days end. After 12 kms we jumped a train back to our humble abode in Riomaggiore. We all had lots of steps on our iPhone Health accounts and we certainly appreciated a hot shower and cold beer when we got back home. Tomorrow we are off to Florence although we really hate to leave this amazing apartment and such a beautiful part of the country.

Lake Como Region

(Town of Varenna)

Greetings from beautiful Lake Como! We spent our two days here navigating our way by ferry between the three major towns - Menaggio (where we are staying), Bellagio and Varenna. Here is a pic of me and my travel mates as we hiked up to the top of Castello di Vezio which provides the best views of the Lake Como area. It was a great way to spend the afternoon. It was a combination of roads and trails but the view made the effort all them more worthwhile. There was cold beer and hot pizza to follow at a local outdoor bistro.

iThe ferry goes from town to town so we bought a day pass that allows a "jump on - jump off" mode which makes it easy to check out each town. There ferries run usually every 1/2 hour or hour. We can catch a good view of the ferry from our hostel. The hostel is very well run and they offer a nightly dinner for 12 Euros and breakfast is included.

The vibe is relaxed, calm in Lake Como. Nobody is in a rush and since it is off season, the street are not packed with people. Even still, it was 24 degrees C today and soooooo nice out!

(Shopping alleyway in town of Bellagio)

                                                                   (Villas in Town of Varenna from hiking trail)
Expensive villas are the norm here - oh to be rich and hang out at "the lake"! There are boardwalks, shops, restaurants and cafes everywhere. I just wish we had time to do some more hikes as it would be wicked hiking in this area.

 (Cliff top villas in Town of Varenna)

Off to Cinque Terra tomorrow. Trains tickets are all booked so its "on the move again". And the gals never did find George Clooney :-)

(Town of Menaggio)                                        (Ferry Police - how do they decide who does and does not get on??)

(Pictures can be doubled clicked to enlarge)

Burano - Venice

Burano is a quiet "oasis" just a 30 minute ferry ride from Venice. The difference between Venice and Burano is obvious the minute you step off the boat.

Children are playing on streets, men are working on the waterfront - it is a working community of fishermen who probably despise seeing their quiet life disturbed by us tourists jumping off the ferry.                                            


The houses are painted in vibrant colours and since it was late in the afternoon when we arrived there, the sun was starting to sets and the light was perfect for taking a few pictures.

It was a wonderful spot to walk around, have a bit of supper, a few beers and catch the ferry back to city centre. I would highly recommend people to add Burano to their agenda if planning a trip to Venice.

You may be wondering about the next couple of pics but lets call them a bit of "slice of life" as we become accustomed to this Venetian lifestyle. I had seen these stacks of tables everywhere around the city and have come to learn that in the event of a flood, the tables are setup and people can walk on the tables rather than the flooded streets and alleyways. Cool!

I thought you may want to see where we are staying on our visit and like all good Venetians, we did laudry and hung our T-shirts and other "unmentionables" on the line below our window sill. The place has little to no hot water but we are surviving quite nicely. When wine is $3.45 euros per bottle how can one complain! 

Tomorrow we are off to Lake Como - the playground of the rich and famous. The gals are on the lookout for George Clooney who has a house there LOL.

(PS All pictures can be clicked on for a larger resolution.)

Exploring Venice, Italy

Hey there. It's been two fabulous days in Venice so far and we've been having a fantastic time. Venice is very lay back, casual - with friendly folks everywhere with the language not really presenting any issues. From the airport you can take a passenger ferry to City Centre for a very reasonable fare. If you are super rich, you can book a private taxi but obviously thats not us :-)

We spent time on Day 1 walking the tiny alleys, exploring St. Mark's Square,  and getting used to the Venetian way of life. Awesome pizza, cheap wine, well-dressed locals to name few. It is cool being in an environment with no cars. Prices are very reasonable for food and transportation so far.

On Day 2 we were well rested and over-caffeinated as we started out for the day. Our plan was to take the ferry to two outlying islands on the outskirts of the Venice lagoon - Murano and Burano. Each very different in their own way. Murano is famous for its glass works i.e. glass blowing, jewelry, furnaces, they are all here. If it can be made from glass, it's sold here.

I will fill you in on Burano tomorrow as it is late and time for bed.